634 ? EDUCATION OF THE VETERINARY SURGEON. 
geon and the human practitioner, and this alone is sufficient 
to elicit the inquiry. Does the study of the veterinary pro- 
fession, considered in a philosophical and scientific point of 
view, rank beneath that of the human ? i. e ., is there ne- 
cessarily anything in the pursuit of that profession which 
investigates the conformation and alleviates the diseases of 
the brute creation, which can render it inferior to that whose 
object is to investigate and alleviate the infirmities of man ? 
To arrive at the solution of this, let us contrast the one 
with the other. The human practitioner concentrates his 
studies upon the structure and diseases of one animal only — 
a being endowed with reason, language, and docility ; who 
can describe his pains and feelings, relate his symptoms, and 
point unerringly to the precise spot affected ; and, as man, 
in the scale of creation, stands higher than the horse or dog, 
and the life of the human being is more valued than that of 
the brute, so does the surgeon receive a greater meed of 
praise for his success, and is stimulated by the reward of 
higher honours. 
The veterinary practitioner pursues the same inquiry under 
great and nunierous disadvantages. His patients are dumb ; 
they cannot say a my pain is here or there;” nor can they 
afford a voluntary help to his investigations. It is only by 
dint of close and repeated observation, by indications often- 
times obtained amidst the throes of the animal, that he forms 
his diagnosis ; and yet, with all these disadvantages, does he 
do so less correctly than the human surgeon ? Our ever 
recurring pod modems plainly answer in the negative. The 
veterinary surgeon comprises amongst his patients, animals 
the most different, in nature, habits, conformation, and use. 
Each one in itself, is in fact, a separate study. The diseases 
of one are widely different from those of another; and medi- 
cines the most active with the former, may become inert in 
the latter. 
How different is the anatomy of the ruminant from that 
of the carnivora ! Compare the elaborate stomachs of the 
one with the simple receptacle for food of the other. Con- 
trast the hoof of the horse with the foot of the dog. Each 
wonderful in its mechanism, yet how strangely and beauti- 
fully varied in its construction, and the adaptation to its pur- 
pose. Their diseases, too, how opposite. What more dis- 
similar than glanders, canine madness, and pleuro-pneumonia? 
Whilst one patient obstinately stands during inflammation of 
the lungs, another will be recumbent and recline upon the 
sternum. In the dog, we have a patient whose natural 
remedy is vomition, whilst the horse has scarcely ever been 
